This week’s blog is going to spark debate. It is going to incite many emotions, such as rage, fear, and disbelief. It is more important than the government shutdown. It is more critical than Obamacare or which NFL players have been injured (and believe me, I love football).

It is parenting.

There is no bigger issue than making sure our children grow up to be happy, healthy, functional parts of society. Everyone has a different method for this madness of child-rearing, and there isn’t a single thing wrong with that. But what I want to know is if you don’t care enough about your children to make sure they are warm and fed, then why do you have them?

And don’t give me that, “Oh, well we didn’t really mean to have children” crap. There are plenty of “accidents” out there that are well cared for.

What started all of this was a field-trip for my second grader. The week building up to the trip, I received at least three flyers from the teacher reminding parents to send a jacket and a sack lunch with their children, and make sure they wear tennis shoes. It was an outdoor trip, so at least two of those requirements should be a given. And yet parents needed constant reminders from the teacher to do their job.

I believe most of the kids had their jackets and proper foot attire, but there were at least a couple that had no lunch. Okay, now let’s pause real quick and take the other side. Surely the kid ran off for the bus and left their prepared-with-love sack lunch on the kitchen table right? Or left it on the bus? If that were true, then why was the teacher prepared with extra lunches for those who forgot theirs? How many times does this happen?

I can honestly tell you I would have given up my lunch if one of those kids didn’t have anything to eat. They might not have appreciated my almond butter and honey sandwich, but it’s better than nothing, right?

Society as a whole is relying on teachers to raise our children. I think my daughter’s teacher is fabulous, but nobody can raise 25 children all by herself.